Cecily Drake jerked awake, auburn hair tussled. Her best friend Sawyer snickered.
"Why are you always sleeping in class? You rebel." He teases.
The teacher at the front of the classroom droned on about cells and what the world would be like if we didn't know about them. Cecily sighed and huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her sea green eyes.
"John had me up all night, helping him with his homework. To pile that on top of all my reports and assignments was just torture." Cecily whispered back.
Smiling, Sawyer shook his head. Cecily cradled her head in her hands, drifting back to sleep. When something hit her desk, Cecily looked up to see her teacher lookind down on her disapproivingly. She smiled, slightly embarassed and shrugged in response. Her report on cells lay in front of her, a red 100 at the top of the page. Cecily smiled. Sawyer leaned over.
"And you said it was torture to do a little extra work." He said, laughing.
Cecily shook her head and began to pack up her things slowly for fear of the teacher catching her breaking yet another classroom rule, her eyes on the clock at the front of the room. She leaned across the aisle towards Sawyer.
"Hey, meet me after school at the library, okay?" She murmured.
Sawyer watched the teacher at the front of the room, his brown eyes staying focused. "Okay." He whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Okay, great!" Cecily answered. She opened her mouth to say something else but- "Cecily Drake!"
She jumped back in her chair and looked towards the front of the room. The teacher, Mr. Howard, glared at her over his glasses.
"There is no talking during class, Ms. Drake, you should know that!"
Cecily slid down in her chair, suddenly uncomfortable under her classmates' stare. "Yes, I'm sorry. But-"
"No but's, Cecily. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to give you a detention." Mr. Howard said, frowning.
Sawyer glanced over at Cecily, his brown eyes shining with muted amusement and a slight smirk on his face. Cecily shot him a glare and turned back to Mr. Howard.
"Mr. Howard, that won't work. I-I have a project to work on after school and I-"
"Cecily." Mr. Howard says sternly. He crossed his arms. "You should have thought about that before you decided to talk during my class. Be here after school at exactly four o'clock."
Cecily frowned and crossed her arms, watching the clock. One minute.
The bell rang and everyone got up, uniform skirts swishing, and tailored jackets blowing open as they rushed into the hallway. Cecily stood up, adjusting her bag on her shoulder and scooping up her books. Great, detention. Just wonderful. She thought. Sawyer stood and stretched, his smirk stretching into a full grin.
"Well, now we'll only have five minutes after school, thanks to you, Cecy." He teased, gently bumping her shoulder as they walked out of the classroom.
"It's not like it's my fault." Cecily said, smiling to herself. She loved Sawyer. He was her best friend, her brother. They've been friends since the first grade when she marched up to him and asked if he wanted to come play with the colorful wooden blocks and build a kingdom. Since that day, they've stuck together.
Sawyer knudged her shoulder, shaking her from her thoughts. "I'll meet you in the library as soon as the bell rings, okay? You can tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me, and then we'll get you to Mr. Howard's in time for detention." Cecily hooked her thumbs on her backpack straps and fingered their school crest on the lapel of her black blazer.
"Alright, bye Sawyer!" Cecily turned on her heel and rushed down the hallway, shoving people out of the way so she wouldn't be late. I don't need another detention. She thought as she turned the corner, her skirt whipping around her knees.
"I hate these stupid uniforms." She complained to herself as she entered her last class of the day.
Cecily slid into her seat, pushing red waves out of her face. She allowed her mind to wander as her eyes slid over her uniform clad classmates.
I wonder if Sawyer will help me find my birth parents. Or at least my mom. I wonder what she looks like...
Cecily rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window, partially listening to her teacher.
Students flowed down the hallways, stopping at their lockers and to talk to friends. Cecily pushed through the crowds, making her way to the library. She pushed open the doors and welcomed the blast of cool air. She picked a table and shrugged off her backpack. Cecily slid off her blazer and sat in a chair. Not long after, Sawyer strode in. Cecily smiled and stood up to greet him.
"Hey. Okay this is going to have to be quick. Lately I've been wanting to find out who my birth parents are. I asked my parents and they didn't know anything. So I was wondering if you'd help me search for them... But now I have detention and I have exactly-" Cecily frowned and checked the clock on the wall. "two minutes. Twon minutes to get there." Sawyer smiled and put his stuff down on the table.
"Hey, it's fine, don't worry. I'll start research and you can meet me here after your detention, okay?"
Cecily grinned and threw her arms around Sawyer's neck. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and quickly grabbed up her things.
"Thanks so much, Sawyer! I'll see you in an hour!" Cecily turned and quickly made her way out of the library.
Sawyer watched with a smile on his face as he watched the bubbly redhead dart haphazardly between shelves and out the doors, knocking into a few people with hurried "sorries." He sat down at a computer and logged on. He opened up Google and got to work, starting with the adoption agency Cecily was adopted from. He clicked on the top result, released a sigh, and started to read.
Cecily left Mr. Howard's class feeling drained. He made her sit at a desk and write a four page essay on following rules. She ran a hand through her hair and made her way to the library where Sawyer was waiting. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of her younger teachers, Ms. Oakley, watching her carefully. Cecily's eyebrows crinkled and she turned around to see why she was staring. But Ms. Oakley was gone. Cecily's eyes lingered around the area where Ms. Oakley stood, but finally shrugged to herself and walked through the library doors. A few students were at some computers, but mostly it was empty. She noticed Sawyer and ran over, sliding into the seat behind him.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. Did you find anything?!" She questioned, leaning over him to look at the screen.
Sawyer laughed and shoved her away. "Geez Cecy, calm down!" He turned the computer screen away and looked at her, eyebrow cocked. "You wanna know what I found?" He asked, smirking.
Cecily glared at him. "Stop playing games, Sawyer! Just show me what you found!"
Sawyer laughed and turned the screen towards her. Her green eyes scanned the screen.
"See? I found your mom." He pointed to a name towards the bottom of the screen.
"She lives in New York, New York. Her name is-" He squinted and leaned closer towards the screen. "Sally Jackson."